Local Control Is Important And In Danger

LOCAL CONTROL IS IMPORTANT

DANGER!AND IN

by Precinct 4 Commissioner Dianne Edmondson

photo courtesy by Commissioner Dianne Edmondson

As local elected officials, your County Commissioners and your municipal council members are the office holders closest to you, the residents of Denton County. Their actions affect you the most of any legislative body, and they are the easiest for you to contact. After all, their offices are near your home, and you probably run into them from time to time at a local store or restaurant. Virtually every political figure knows that local control is important to provide the services, events, and outcomes that the public wants.

Last session, about 7,000 different pieces of legislation were introduced in Austin. These dealt with everything from public education, transportation, licensing roofers, and regulating texting to legalizing marijuana and hundreds of other topics. Some of those bills have a direct impact on your local officials’ ability to serve you, their constituents, as you want to be served. In many cases, very different counties are treated identically.

You, the residents of Denton County, are more aware than the lawmakers in Austin of how you want your local elected officials to deal with our local issues. During the 140 days of a regular legislative session, hundreds of committee meetings and dozens of general sessions are held, many concurrently. There is simply no way that your local officials can – or should -- take time from their regular jobs and head to Austin to monitor the progress of bills which will affect their local constituents back home. So how do we handle this daunting task? By joining professional associations, such as the Texas Association of Counties, the Council of Urban Counties, Texas Municipal League, and other similar professional groups such as those for County and District Clerks, Tax Assessors/ Collectors, Elections Administrators, District Attorneys, Sheriffs, Police and Firefighters, etc. As each of those associations identifies proposed legislation which would affect its members – either positively or negatively – the association notifies its members, provides data regarding the legislation, and encourages the individual members to contact their own state legislators to express their opinions. The associations are the conduits of important information.

Without these associations, for example, your elected officials would have to find another way to review about 7,000 bills, analyze them for potential impact on their respective counties, communicate with legislators sitting on relevant committees, and be present to testify when each problematic bill is considered in committee – sometimes with notice given just minutes before a hearing. It makes no financial or logical sense for all county judges, commissioners, and other county elected officials vainly to attempt to keep abreast of all pertinent legislation and then travel to Austin to convey support or concerns. Your local elected officials urge citizens also to utilize associations to which you may belong to track legislation and “lobby” your legislators with your viewpoints on the proposed bills. (Use

this link to follow legislation of interest to you https://capitol.texas.gov/Resources/ FollowABill.aspx .)

We are committed to full transparency on how your tax dollars are spent. Accountability, embodied in the form of the ballot box, provides the most transparent way for you, as local taxpayers, to ensure that you can measure results and hold your leaders accountable for how we spend your public funds. Your Denton County elected officials communicate to our legislators on your behalf and also encourage individual citizens to weigh in with their state legislators. (Use this link

to find your State Representative or State Senator https://wrm.capitol. texas.gov/home.)

Strong partnerships between business, community, and political leaders have been the foundation of Texas’ economic success. Local leaders and elected officials have historically enjoyed a mutually cooperative advocacy model that supports their citizens, creates jobs, and protects the quality of life in the cities and counties we all call home.

Let’s remember that “all politics is local,” and how important it is to keep local control strong and vibrant here in Texas.

CONNECT WITH US

If you would like to receive an e-newsletter, please contact Commissioner Edmondson at 972.434.3960 | Dianne.Edmondson@dentoncounty.gov | Southwest Courthouse: 6200 Canyon Falls Dr., Ste. 90

Perfect Balance The of Law FamilyAND by Steve Gamel | photography by Your Candid Memories (YourCandidMemories.com)

Kimberly Shanklin insists she has one of those dreaded Type-A personalities you can see coming from four or five courtrooms away. She’s impatient, aggressive, and obsessed with doing things her way in a world where rules and procedure run her life. She also hates to disappoint and takes pride in being prepared for anything.

Just ask her husband, Brody, who has watched her navigate a high-stress career and a busy family life for nearly 16 years.

“I’m fairly certain my husband thinks I’m crazy because I have detailed lists for every part of my day, with back-up lists if things go off schedule due to client needs. Sometimes he’ll find me working out at 10:30 pm and just shakes his head and keeps moving because he knows I need to mark it off my list. ” Kimberly said with a laugh.

The point is that everything Kimberly has achieved on her own during her nearly 20-year career has been predicated on a take-no-prisoners attitude mixed with a compassionate mindset of always being there for her clients. That has made the Law Office of Kimberly Shanklin PLLC in Denton the perfect choice for anyone needing superior counsel for criminal and family law cases.

When Town Life magazine recently caught up with Kimberly at her office, it was clear there is also a softer side to this ultra-ambitious lawyer. Strip away the law degree, accolades, and impressive win-loss record, and you have the quintessential wife and mother who has created the perfect balance of law and family life. She is a devoted wife to Brody Shanklin, judge of the Texas 211th District Court in Denton. They have lived in Lantana for nearly six years and have two sons, Bryce (21) and Brock (15). “We have two amazing boys. One thinks we are crazy and has no aspirations of being a lawyer, and the other looks just like his dad but has my personality,” Kimberly said of her kids. “Our youngest negotiates and argues all his points, just like a lawyer, and he’s very smart about it. Losing an argument to a child is both exhausting and frustrating.”

Kimberly could go on and on about her family. In fact, no matter how successful she is at work, the road she took to get here always had them in mind. Before opening her firm six years ago, Kimberly spent 13 years working for a larger firm representing thousands of clients. The experience she gained was invaluable, but it was a volume-based job. One case was always followed by seven or eight more in a fast-paced environment, which meant longer days and nights at work and less time focusing on the attention both her growing family and clients deserved.

940.382.8216 • ShanklinLawFirm.com

In Kimberly’s eyes, that’s not the way she envisioned practicing law for the long-term. Rather than push people in and out, she wanted to take time with each client she represented and approach her job with a personal touch.

“The best thing I did was go out on my own,” Kimberly said. “With some of these family law cases, it’s very intensive with multiple life-altering decisions involved. You have to take a step back and focus on quality over quantity so that you can devote the time you need to each person. I love helping all my clients in any way I can.”

She added, “I learned early on in my career that it was easy to gain tons of clients with the lure of telling them what they wanted to hear and making false promises. But when clients asked for my opinion, I offered the truth — even when I knew it may cost me that client. Then, suddenly, I noticed those clients coming back to me after a horrible experience with someone who didn’t deliver. Then, those clients referred clients who had bad experiences and didn’t trust lawyers. It was now people seeking me out based on reputation. By knowing my worth, I’m able to fight for my clients who trust me to help them with serious life-changing decisions.”

Kimberly’s firm represents clients in all types of family law cases, including divorce, child custody, and adoptions. She is one of few attorneys chosen to represent high-risk clients through the family drug court and often represents both parents and children in CPS cases. She is also the go-to Denton County attorney in misdemeanor and felony criminal cases.

You have to take a step back and focus on quality over quantity so that you can devote the time you need to each person.

One by one, Kimberly takes care of all her clients – all with a reassuring tone that she is there to fight for them.

And somehow, she’s always there for her family. It’s about striking that perfect balance between law and family life — and Kimberly is clearly the best at it.

“No matter what is going on at my practice and how much work I put in, I want to spend as much time as I can being a good mom and wife. Having my own firm allows me the flexibility and freedom to do that.”

1517 Centre Place Dr., Ste. 250 • Denton, TX 76205 (FIRST UNITED BANK BLDG)